MA-6 Congressional Race: Schneider stresses no political ambitions, local service

William J. Dowd wdowd@wickedlocal.com @WJD_MHDReporter

Monday

Oct 8, 2018 at 12:34 PMOct 8, 2018 at 12:34 PM

In an interview with a half-dozen Wicked Local editors Thursday, Joseph Schneider said that he decided to run for Congress in the Sixth District because of the state of America’s political climate.

"There is so much hyper-partisan polarization among lawmakers," said the Beverly Republican challenging Seth Moulton, D-Salem, in the Nov. 6 midterm elections. "The sort of rhetoric from the political class reminds me far too much of the political discourse that I observed first-hand in my youth in communist Romania.”

Born in Romania, Schneider’s family emigrated to the United States ("I would add legally," he says) when he was 12 years old. He was appointed to and graduated from West Point and, like Moulton, Harvard University.

"After West Point, I served in the United States Army as a Airborne Ranger, a qualified infantry officer, primarily in Special Forces," said Schneider. "After I left active duty, I went to Harvard Business School -- earned a master's in business administration -- and I spent a year at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government."

He became an entrepreneur, "started a few companies," and built one that he ended up selling General Motors.

Schneider described his political ideology as a pragmatist and realist in regard to global security, a fiscal conservative and libertarian in his social views.

"I believe the more money people have the better decisions that are made ... We should let the government do as little as possible, said Schneider. "My social views are in line with the Libertarian Party: The government has no role in making any decision that anyone should be making for themselves."

As for national security, the former Green Beret said, "I'm for a strong United States being the premium power guaranteeing global security."

Schneider characterized his approach to national security, fiscal and social views as "the perfect combination" that a polarized Washington D.C. needs.

Top priorities

Schneider said his top priorities include helping stop the hyper-partisan politics, setting an example for term limits and injecting “high quality, high-paying jobs” into the North Shore economy.

The country as a whole, he argues, is going from bad to worse.

“And that’s demonstrated in many, many ways,” he argues, “but one of the principal ways is the disparity between incomes, between the 1 percent and the 10 percent and everybody else.”

Schneider noted that the time it takes for someone to afford a down payment on a first home has increased by seven years, and Americans have not seen a significant pay increase in 30 years. All the while, he says, “the cost of necessities, like healthcare, housing, is going up, eating more and more of their income.”

He said the country needs solutions to problems; everything transforms into a political football these days, he said. When asked to point to specific footballs, he said just turn on the TV (on which the day of his interview news outlets were broadcasting the Kavanaugh-Ford hearings).

He points out solutions to issues, like gun violence, get lost in the political arguments between parties.

“We fight the same battle 30 times, but we haven’t made any progress on the 2nd Amendment and the basic issues of how to provide security for our schools,” he said. “The solutions get lost in the dialogue.”

Schneider on Moulton

Schneider described Moulton as a do-nothing congressman who has done very little either for the district or to fulfill his campaign promises for veterans.

“[Moulton] came in and said, ‘I’m a veteran. I’m going to fight for veterans,’” said Schneider. “Well, I haven’t talked to one veteran who has said anything positive about what Seth Moulton has done for them.”

One of the first pieces of legislation that Moulton championed was his Faster Care for Veterans Act.

Schneider also framed Moulton as a reliable vote for the Democratic Party.

"If you look at the key issues - spending and taxes - Seth Moulton can depended upon to vote Democratic,” he said.

When it comes to writing bills, studies have ranked Moulton as one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in Congress. Whether the proposed legislation becomes law is another question.

Still, Schneider argues the two-term congressman’s done too little for the Sixth District and been too preoccupied with going across the country stumping for Democrats and building a political network for a future run for higher office. To hone his point, he pointed to Moulton’s trips to Iowa and New Hampshire.

“People don’t go there because they like the local cuisine,” said Schneider. “They go to Iowa and New Hampshire because they have presidential ambitions.”

He has no higher-office ambitions, he said.

“I’m running to represent the best interest of the people of the Sixth District and the best interest of the country,” said Schneider. “Not my personal best interest, not the best interest of 'my' - but our best interests.”